Business Welcome Signs
WHAT IS A BUSINESS WELCOME SIGN?
Business Welcome Signs are outdoor or indoor signs that offer a friendly greeting to your patrons when they arrive.
They can be made out of any material — mostly chalkboard, wood or glass — and can be hung in doorways, displayed in A-Frames or simply propped against walls.
You will find them at entrances to retail businesses and restaurants, especially ones located in high foot-trafficked shopping centers or gallerias.
If you’re a business, use them to communicate enticing messages, current offers or to highlight your brand’s personality.
Avg. Price Range: $75 ~ $450
- Popularity
Details
| Category | Business, Commerce |
| Sign Material | Chalkboard, Wood, Glass |
| Price (avg) | ~ $75 - $450 |
| Dimensions (avg) | ~ 24" x 36" |
| Weight (avg) | ~ 15 - 80 pounds |
| Frame | Wood, Plastic + |
| Popular Colors | Black, White, Transparent (Acrylic) + |
| Outdoor Use | Yes |
| Two-Sided | No |
| Best Feature | Positive Messaging, Clean Design |
Extras
| Market Uses | Store |
| Placements | Sidewalk, Window, Lobby, Bar |
| Portability | Medium |
| Where to Buy | Amazon, Etsy + |
| When to Buy | Anytime |
| Inventor | Betty Willis (Las Vegas) |
| Video | Watch |
Welcome Signs FAQ
What should I put on my business welcome sign?
Here are 13 ideas of what to include on your business welcome sign:
- Your company milestones. For example, “First gumbo restaurant in New Orleans” or “Family owned & operated since 1950”.Â
- What you’re famous for. For example, “Home of the 13 layered nacho bucket.”
- Daily or monthly specials.
- Free samples or tastings.
- The focus word “Welcome”.
- A succinct testimonial.
- A bad customer review, that you poke fun at.
- The total number of customers served.
- The current employee of the month.
- Your company name.
- Your company logo.
- Your “@” social username or other branded hashtags.
- Colored graphics or object art.
Remember, welcome signs are supposed to be casual and make potential customers feel comfortable — so make them fun and adapt your messaging frequently.
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What should I not put on my welcome sign?
Don’t include memory-intensive info — like store hours, phone number or address.
No one is going to remember those details and it will just take up valuable design space.
When the time comes when people truly want to find that information, they will Google it.
TIP: Focus your time optimizing those formal business details on your Google My Business listing instead. Let your welcome sign be your fun salesman.
Do welcome signs work best indoors or outdoors?
Ask yourself this question:
Do most of your customers visit your impulsively or do they research you online before they visit?
If it’s the former, you probably get a lot of foot traffic, and you should place your signs outdoors.
A-Frames chalkboards are the best outdoor signs for businesses.
If you’re in the latter category, keep your welcome signs indoors.
There are a few benefits to keeping them inside:
- Your sign will last longer away from the weather.
- You don’t have to worry about any custom messaging being erased or worn away.
- Your sign won’t get stolen or vandalized… or attacked by birds.
- You have to clean your sign nearly as often (and you save money on cleaners).
Where can I buy welcome business signs?
Believe it or not, it’s not that easy to find quality options.
But see if you can find some custom signs on Etsy or jump over to Amazon for standard versions starting at $75.
And of course, you can contact me to see what we can come up with. 😉
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Where should I place my business welcome signs?
If you have A-Frames, you can place them inside in your venue or outside on the sidewalk (or in a parking lot).
And if you have a smaller sign (especially a two-sided one) you can hang it on your door with simple rope or even lean it against the window.
How do these signs compare to wedding welcome signs?
The main difference is the purpose of each sign.
Business welcome signs are designed to entice potential customers to come in and buy.
So they usually have more written information (that changes often) to drive sales. That’s why chalkboards are so popular, so you can make those changes easily.
Wedding welcome signs, on the other hand, are far simpler and elegant since their purpose is not to sell.
Their goal is to simply welcome your family & friends. So they usually have far fewer design elements and are mostly written on glass or acrylic material that is more evergreen.
Can I tape a poster or menu to a welcome sign?
You bet.
You can put your paper menu in a plastic sleeve and pin or tape the sleeve to your sign.
And if your sign is wood, you can easily pin your paper directly to the wood backing (or even nail it).